


Barry Allen & the Cabin of Requirement

by Poppyseed29



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Accidental Stimulation, Alternate Universe - College/University, Awkwardness, Cuddling & Snuggling, F/M, Fluff, Magic, Masturbation, Sharing Body Heat, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-10
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:55:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22656610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Poppyseed29/pseuds/Poppyseed29
Summary: After a car accident, Iris and Barry stumble upon a magical cabin that seems to respond to their every need, including their need to be together. A silly story of winter fluff!
Relationships: Barry Allen/Iris West
Comments: 42
Kudos: 181





	1. By Accident

**Author's Note:**

> A very indulgent, very contrived story of recycled tropes and tons of fluff. I just needed to get this out of my system to get over some writer's block. 
> 
> In my mind, the cabin is magic and anticipates their every need, even though the story never explicitly says so. 
> 
> Also in this universe, Candice Patton is an actor but we don't know what she's in :)
> 
> It's fun to explore the idea of WA so caught up in each other that they don't even realize they are being turned on by each other until they're being turned on by each other 0:-)

Barry sat on top of a large duffle bag in the lobby of his dorm. The bag made a cushy seat given that it was overstuffed with dirty laundry. Despite the comfortable perch, every few minutes, he stood up to peer out of the window. He was trying to see if he could spot Joe’s gray sedan pulling into one of the few parking spaces outside.

So far, no luck.

Still, Barry knew Joe would come eventually. There was no doubt in his mind that his guardian wouldn’t pick him up at the start of the Christmas holidays after his first semester of college. Joe was probably just delayed due to the fresh falling snow.

As his new friends and neighbors slowly filtered out of the building, Barry found himself pacing back and forth. He said polite farewells and smiled Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays, as they each filtered into cars with their families, or hopped into cabs and Ubers on the way to the train station or airport. 

When it seemed like everyone else had gone, Barry started to get a little worried. He checked his watch anxiously, then tried to call Joe’s cell. No answer. He tried the landline at home. Still no answer. What if the snowstorm was worse than he thought? What if Joe had been in an accident on the highway? What if he was stuck in a ditch somewhere? 

Just as he contemplated calling Joe’s work number, a set of headlights pulled around the corner up ahead and approached the dorm. 

With a sigh of relief, Barry recognized Joe’s car. The vehicle looked like it had taken a trip across the ice planet Hoth. It was covered in snow and ice. 

Barry’s initial suspicions were correct. The storm was the cause of Joe’s delay. 

He grabbed the strap of his duffle bag, slung it over his shoulder and started towards the car. As he approached, he was startled to see it wasn’t Joe in the driver’s seat. 

It was better than Joe. 

It was Iris. 

Brightly, she hopped out of the car. She was smiling, but looked flustered. Her hair had been straightened. It was smooth and shiny, and incredibly long. She’d always worn it curly in high school. Barry stood, dumbstruck, taking in the change. 

“Hey,” she greeted him, with a hug. “I’m so sorry I’m late. Dad got called into work for some emergency so he asked if I could come to get you, and then the snow was totally crazy on the highway and I had to drive at like two miles per hour…” she rattled on quickly.

Barry stood smiling, letting her energy wash over him. She’d taken up his mantle of speaking a mile a minute in a long ramble. He didn’t mind. He’d missed her so much, he’d happily listen for hours. 

“... Barry?” She asked, taking a breath from her soliloquy when she noticed he wasn’t saying anything.

“Yeah?”

“You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m great.” An uncontrollable grin stretched across his face from ear to ear.

“You’re looking at me weird,” Iris noticed.

“Oh,” he blushed. “I just… your hair…”

“Oh,” she beamed. “I just thought I’d do something different… do you like it?”

He made an aborted motion with his hand, like he wanted to tuck a strand behind her ear. “I always like your hair,” he said softly. 

Iris smiled bashfully. “Thanks,” she said, her eyes flitting over his face. “Did you grow?” She asked pensively. 

“I don’t think so,” he said.

“I guess I just forgot how tall you are,” she smiled. “Well, should we put this in the back?” She motioned to the duffle bag hanging off of his shoulder. 

He’d totally forgotten it was there. “Yeah. Pop the trunk, would you?”

She nodded and climbed back into the driver’s seat, pressing the button for the trunk as he circled the car. He threw his luggage unceremoniously into the vehicle before pulling the lid of the trunk down with a satisfying thwack. 

When he climbed into the passenger seat, Iris giggled and patted his knee excitedly. The gesture made the blood rise to his cheeks. 

“I can’t believe you’re here,” she said happily, still slapping his thigh playfully.

He squeezed her hand, gently indicating his aversion to being used as a percussion instrument. “I’m glad to see you too,” he said warmly. He let his gaze and his hand linger for a moment too long, not realizing he was being awkward until it was too late. When it dawned on him, he cleared his throat and rubbed his palms over his legs. “So I guess…”

“... We should head back,” Iris finished, turning the key in the ignition. The car whinnied and rattled in protest against the cold, but sputtered to a start. 

“Yeah,” he agreed. “Long drive.”

The drive home would be at least three hours, if the traffic was good. But since the weather was bad, traffic was bound to be terrible. And if Iris’ arrival time was anything to go by, Barry guessed it would take them at least four hours to get home.

With the car revving to go, Iris lowered the radio volume so that they could talk. She backed out of the parking spot, found her way off campus and onto the two-lane country highway that would eventually lead them to the interstate.

“How did your exams go?” Barry asked.

“I’d rather not think about it,” she admitted. 

“I’m sure it wasn’t  _ that _ bad,” he assured her.

“I dunno… the freshman fifteen is a real thing,” Iris lamented. “I think my grades are exactly fifteen percent lower than they were in high school.”

“They say that’s normal,” he replied, digging into his backpack, which was filled with snacks, to retrieve a granola bar.

“I guess I should be grateful I’ve escaped the fifteen-pound weight gain,” she tried to joke. “Living at home and not eating dorm gruel has its benefits.”

“Surprisingly, our dorm gruel is not terrible,” Barry said pensively, as he nibbled at his snack. 

Iris side-eyed him briefly before turning her eyes back to the road. “You’d think they’d been starving you.”

“I’m not starving,” Barry said defensively, thinking she meant he’d lost weight. He knew he was skinny, but he couldn’t help that.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Iris quickly corrected herself. “It’s just… not everyone carries around a backpack full of rations.”

Barry chuckled. “It’s a long drive. I get hungry.”

“Mhmm,” Iris replied skeptically. “Don’t suppose you’d share? Girl’s been on the road for hours.” She opened her mouth expectantly. 

Without thinking twice, Barry broke off a bite of his granola bar, leaned over and popped it into Iris’ mouth. 

“Fhanwks,” she mumbled as she chewed.

Barry smiled. “Happy to share.”

“What else is new with you?” Iris asked, after swallowing the morsel. 

Barry shrugged. “Nothing much, really. Starting to look into internships for next semester but other than that, same old, same old.”

“An internship sounds good, Bear,” she replied. 

“Yeah. You?”

“I put my name in for a part-time job at that coffee shop by Dad’s work. You know, Jitters?”

“Oh yeah,” Barry nodded. “That’s a good spot.”

“I thought so.”

“Hope you get it.”

“Me too.”

Iris increased the speed of the windshield wipers as the snow started to come down harder.

Over the radio, the synth of Wham!’s  _ Last Christmas  _ pulsed to life. Barry hummed quietly to the melody as Iris focused on the road through the thickening snow.

“So…” Iris prompted. “Meet any cool girls at school?”

Barry shifted uncomfortably, pulling at his seatbelt which suddenly seemed to be strangling him. He very purposefully hadn’t told Iris about losing his virginity in September to a girl who reminded him of her. 

Her name was Erica and their initial encounter had all the makings of a one-night stand, but they’d run into each other again at another party the following week. Barry simply couldn’t help himself. He’d felt so bad about it afterward, both because it wasn’t fair to Erica and because he felt like he’d disrespected Iris somehow, so he’d gently told her he still wasn’t over his crush from high school. They’d parted as amicably as possible under the circumstances. 

“Oh my God, tell me!” Iris gushed, observing his blush and slapping him playfully across the chest with the back of her hand. 

“Ow,” he protested, rubbing at his collarbone where she’d hit him. 

“What’s her name?” Iris pressed.

“Erica,” Barry admitted.

“Er-i-ca,” Iris said slowly as if testing how the syllables fit into her mouth. “Is she pretty?”

“Yeah,” Barry blushed, sinking down in his seat. 

“Well... what does she look like?” 

Barry shrugged. “I don’t know… dark hair… dark eyes.” He leaned his forehead against the window, wishing the conversation would end. 

“Great, so that narrows it down to about 5 billion people. Well, who would her celebrity doppelganger be?” Iris urged him. 

“I don’t think she has one,” Barry replied reluctantly. 

“Oh come on,” Iris argued. “Everyone  _ kind of _ has one. Is she like a Katie Holmes? Or a Mila Kunis? Or like… Selena Gomez?”

“No, none of those,” he drawled, feeling her eyes glance repeatedly over at him as she tried to balance her attention between him and the road. It was this simple, repeated behavior that eventually made Barry crack. “I guess… if she  _ had _ to have one…”

“She does,” Iris insisted.

“Candice Patton,” he murmured. He couldn’t believe he’d said it out loud. It wasn’t lost on him that Iris was often compared to the actress.

Silence filled the car, broken only by the rhythmic swish of the windshield wipers. Conveniently, the radio signal had been lost, adding a faint hiss to the strangled stillness. 

“Oh,” Iris said finally, surprised. 

“What?” Barry asked, daring to look over at her for the first time since the conversation began. 

“I didn’t realize —” she said quickly before interrupting herself, “I mean —  _ Dude! _ ” Her hand flew out to slap him across the chest a second time. 

“ _ Dude? _ ” He repeated skeptically. 

“She’s  _ hot _ !”

Barry leaned forward, pretending to look into his backpack for another snack. 

“Did you guys… like… y’know?” Iris asked.

“I’m not answering that,” Barry protested.

“But I’m your best friend.”

“I know. It’s just… private.”

“I told you about Josh,” Iris retorted.

_ Josh _ . The name still made Barry want to kick something. 

The car fell awkwardly silent again, partially because Barry refused to answer anything further, and partially because it was now near whiteout conditions. 

Iris’ knuckles tensed over the steering wheel as she peered forward. It wasn’t just billowing snow anymore. It was ice pellets, too. She eased up on the gas, slowing to five miles under the speed limit. It was a good thing there were no other cars on this part of the highway, otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to go so slow. People usually sped through this section.

“I won’t tell my dad, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Iris told him when she’d regained a sense of comfort over the driving conditions.

“I’m not worried about that,” Barry told her honestly. 

“So did you?” Iris asked, her tone wavering in a way Barry couldn’t quite decipher. 

“What?”

“Have sex with Er-i-ca?” 

He swallowed. “It’s over now though,” he said quietly, confirming without confirming.

“Oh,” Iris said in a hushed tone. “I’m sorry, Bear.”

“It’s okay.”

“Well, you know if she can’t see what a great guy you are then—”

“It was me,” he said. “I ended it.”

Iris’ brows knit, perplexed as she puzzled over this new information. But then, her expression morphed into panic. It took Barry a moment to realize why. She was twisting the steering wheel left and right in her hands but getting absolutely no traction. 

Suddenly, the car spun out of control. In the blink of an eye, they were eight hundred and ten degrees from where they started, nose-down into the steep ditch off the right-hand shoulder. 

Barry coughed. The seatbelt was cutting into his chest, fighting against gravity as he looked down at the airbag deployed in front of him. 

Adrenaline pumped through his veins. 

“Iris?” He asked, unable to turn to see if she was all right. 

A quiet groan came from the driver’s seat. 

Panicked, he fumbled with the buckle, freeing himself so that he could turn to her.

“I’m sorry, Barry,” she said hazily. “I didn’t mean to.” 

He checked her over. He couldn’t see any injuries. Her airbag had also deployed safely. 

“It’s okay. Not your fault,” he told her calmly. “Did you hit your head?”

“I don’t think so,” she replied. 

“K. I’m going to come around and get you out okay?”

“Okay,” she agreed. 

He managed to open his door. It fell back under its own weight with a horrid creak. He climbed out, rocking the car slightly as he went, then used all the muscles he could muster to try to push the door closed again. He wanted to keep the cold air out and away from Iris. 

The snow swirled angrily around him as the frigid north wind bit through the collar of his too-thin jacket. He scurried around the car. Its lights were buried in a deep bank of snow. Barry fought his way through the waist-deep accumulation, trying desperately to get to his best friend.

As he went, he reached into his pocket for his phone, taking it out and dialing 911. But as he pulled it out and started to dial the number, it did that thing that phones are wont to do in the cold: it blacked out. 

“ _ Crap _ ,” he muttered under his breath. He shoved it back into his pocket and focused on pulling open Iris’ door.

She was already trying to unbuckle her seatbelt, but it was pulled so tight against her that it was causing her trouble. He reached across her to press on the buckle, releasing her into his arms as she slouched forward, coughing the same way he had. 

“You okay?” He asked, holding her.

She nodded into his neck. “I must’ve hit some ice.”

“Yeah, I think so,” he agreed.

The wind whipped around them, nipping at their ears and driving the ice pellets into the napes of their necks. 

“Is your phone working?” He asked her.

She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled it out. A frown crossed her face as she stared at the device. “No signal,” she lamented, tears welling in her eyes.

“Do you think you can help me try to push the car out?” Barry asked.

Iris nodded resolutely, then climbed out of the driver’s seat to join Barry in the snowbank. 

Their ungloved hands dug furiously at the snow around the front bumper, pulling desperately to excavate the car. For what felt like hours they worked, displacing the snow handful by handful until they were covered in cold, wet fluff. When they’d done what they could, they crouched beneath the bumper and pushed up from their knees, trying with all of their might to budge the stupid thing. It was no use. Both they and the car were slowly freezing into place. 

“Barry!” Iris called through the rushing wind. “I can’t feel my hands.”

He nodded, relenting and looking around.

There was a part in the trees up ahead. His spirits lifted as he scrambled up the side of the snowbank, trying to get a better look. “I think there’s a driveway up ahead!” He called down through the wind to Iris. 

“Maybe they’ll let us use their phone,” she replied, squinting through the snow and pulling her jacket firmly around her. 

He scrambled back down the snowbank to retrieve his backpack from the front seat. Then, the two of them trekked forward to the promised driveway. It turned out to be a laneway that led off the main road and into the surrounding forest. Barry would have been disheartened had Iris not spotted a small structure in the distance.

“I think I see a house,” she said, positively shivering in the winter air. 

The good thing about entering the forest was that it provided some shelter from the biting wind. Yet, as they approached the dwelling, Barry’s heart sank a little. It wasn’t quite a house, but rather a tiny cabin. 

No one was home. There were no lights on, and no cars around. Predictably, the door was locked. Barry shook the handle, trying to get it to budge, but it was no use. He started looking around for something to jimmy the door open. He hoped they would still find a phone inside. 

Iris had taken interest in a cement sculpture of a frog near the door. She reached a frozen hand into the mouth of the smiling amphibian and felt around. “Aha!” She proclaimed victoriously as she held up a key.

“How did you —” Barry asked in amazement. He was so relieved he almost kissed her. Instead, he gathered his senses, took the key and slipped it into the lock. The door creaked open, and they piled in through the door and out of the wind. 

Iris turned on the flashlight on her phone. The cabin was as small inside as it looked outside. Still, it was a promising refuge. There was a wood stove in one corner, with wood and kindling stacked neatly beside it. Along the back wall was a double bed. In the corner opposite the doorway, just past a small table and four chairs was a kitchenette. Beyond that was a door.

Overall, the place was clean and cozy. There were even fresh sheets on the bed, awaiting the owner’s return. 

Iris stepped forward, looking on every surface for a landline. “There’s no phone,” she lamented as she opened the door at the back wall. It turned out to lead to a washroom and a pantry. “And I still don’t have any signal.” 

“Figures,” Barry sighed. “Maybe we should stay here. Try to get help in the morning when the weather lets up.”

Iris shivered in the cold but nodded as she looked around the tiny cabin.

“I’ll try to get a fire started,” Barry said, knowing that their first priority needed to be getting warm. “Would you hold the light?” 

“‘Course,” Iris said, kneeling beside him as he picked through a pile of newspaper and kindling by the stove. 

She watched him crunch the newspaper into little balls and lay the kindling in cross-hatched patterns on top of it inside the oven. “I didn’t know you knew how to do that,” she said.

“My Dad taught me when I was little,” Barry explained. “Sometimes we’d rent this cabin, and if we went in the fall we put a fire on. He said it was a good life skill.” He flicked the little switch to open the flue, then reached into the firebox to light a corner of a piece of newspaper.

“He was right,” Iris agreed, leaning her head on his shoulder. “You’re probably saving our lives right now.”

They watched as the paper edges turned a luminous red and crumbled into ash just before a yellow flame engulfed the pile of kindling. Barry’s cheeks warmed. “Just trying to help,” he said, closing the oven door.

Iris stuck her hands out, trying to defrost her damp and wind-bitten skin while the flames lapped against the oven window. 

“I’ll see if I can get the lights on,” Barry said, standing up. He could see better now that the fire was casting a dim glow around the room. To the right of the kitchen cupboards, he spotted an electrical box. With any luck, the breakers would just be switched off. 

Luck, it seemed, was with them. 

He flipped each switch sequentially into the ON position, then tried a lamp near the front door. A warm yellow light washed over the room. “That’s better,” he reflected.

Iris turned her head from the fire to smile at him. 

The fire had grown big enough to throw a log on, so Barry stepped forward and grabbed some wood off the pile. He opened the door and placed it on top of the kindling. 

After closing the door again, he sat cross-legged in front of the fire beside Iris, letting the warmth wash over his chilled bones. 

Iris was still shivering. 

“Are you okay?” He asked.

“Yeah,” she breathed through chattering teeth.

“No, you’re not,” he said, reaching a hand out to gently touch her shoulder. Her jacket was soaked. “This is wet. You’ll feel better if you take it off.”

“Yours is too,” she observed. 

He’d been so busy trying to make sure they were safe that he hadn’t noticed that pretty much all of his clothes were soaked through. He unbuttoned his thin jacket and went to hang it on the back of a chair. He reached a hand out to take Iris’ just as she slipped it from her shoulders and hung it over the back of another chair. 

Her eyes were wide and sad as he looked back at her. It was easy to see why. She was soaked through, too. 

“I’ve got dry clothes in the car,” he said. “I could go get them.”

Iris looked out the window at the billowing storm. They could hardly make out the trees five feet in front of the door. “You can’t go back out there,” she said. “Not while it’s still storming like that.”

“Okay,” Barry conceded, his mouth going dry. 

That didn’t leave them with a lot of options. He knew what they needed to do, but it made him awfully nervous to suggest it. “Um… this is going to sound crazy, but…”

“We have to take our clothes off?” Iris ventured to finish his sentence.

He rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah. I mean… it’s just to prevent —”

To Barry’s surprise, Iris shrugged and said, “Okay.”

Barry could hardly believe his ears. “Okay?” 

“Okay,” she repeated. “I don’t really want to get pneumonia, do you?”

“No,” he shook his head.

“Well…” she looked around the room, going to a small dresser by the bed and looking to see if there were any old clothes inside. “Doesn’t really look like there’s a spare change of clothes lying around.”

Barry nodded solemnly, trying not to betray his racing heart.

Iris looked at the bed. “We’re staying here for the night, right?”

“Think so,” Barry said, checking one last time to see if the storm was letting up. It was still raging, more fiercely than ever before. 

She traced her fingers over the top quilt stretched neatly across the mattress. “If you turn around, I’ll get into bed. Then you can do the same.”

“The same?” He asked, wanting to make sure he understood.

“You need a place to sleep, too, right?”

“Yeah,” he said hoarsely as he turned around. He sat with his back to her and tried not to listen intently to the sound of Iris undressing, or picture what she might look like. That was the very last thing she needed after the car crash: for her best friend to turn into a total weirdo creeper and take advantage of her.  _ Just act normal _ , Barry reprimanded himself.

After a minute, the bed creaked softly, followed by the rustle of sheets. “Okay,” came Iris’ muffled voice. “I’m in. Your turn.”

Barry turned around. A long lump beneath the comforter indicated Iris’ securely hidden body. She’d tucked the blankets right up to her chin, so that only her head was exposed, and turned to face the far wall, in order to give Barry the same privacy he’d afforded her. 

But before he could get into bed, Barry needed to check the fire. He opted to throw a couple more logs on to keep it going long after they fell asleep. 

He noticed that Iris had hung her clothes on a couple of wall hooks beside the dresser. They were dripping onto the floor. That wouldn’t do. 

He pulled another chair closer to the stove. “Your clothes might dry better closer to the fire,” he suggested.

The blankets rustled as Iris lifted her head to look at him. “Okay,” she agreed, before flopping back down onto the pillow.

He went to the hooks and grabbed her sopping clothes, stretching them out as best he could across the chair by the fire. When he folded her jeans over the backrest, a small scrap of lavender lace fell from the waistband. Barry’s heart stopped. Iris’ underwear. 

Before he could think too much about it, he scooped it up and hooked it around the back spindle. Perhaps comically, this event repeated itself as he stretched her sweater across the seat. A curious article fell from the bottom hem: her bra. 

Barry’s heart pounded in his chest as he hooked it over the other spindle so that it too would dry.

He had wondered how much she’d discarded before climbing into bed. Now, it seemed clear. Iris was totally naked under those covers. And she had invited him to share the same bed.

Still, sharing a bed in an emergency wasn’t the same as sharing a bed consensually for other, more recreational reasons. Barry breathed deeply, trying to calm himself. When he felt steadier, he peeled the wet clothes from his body and lay them similarly on the last of the kitchen chairs. He considered leaving his boxers on, but they too were soaking wet, so off they went. 

He approached the bed cautiously, feeling strange. “Iris?” He said as he peeled back the covers, just enough so that he could slip underneath.

“Yeah, Bear?” 

“Just so this doesn’t come as a shock… I um… my boxers were wet too… so I…”

“I know, Bear. It’s okay. Me, too.”

“Okay, I just didn’t want to frighten you.”

“You don’t frighten me,” she said plainly, her voice still muffled from facing the wall. 

Somewhat relieved, Barry slid down beneath the heavy woolen blankets and flannel sheets, letting the weight of the covers warm him as he turned in the opposite direction to Iris. He stared out into the cabin, watching the flames of the fire lick at the door of the woodstove. 

_ Joe must be worried sick _ , he thought.

Behind him, the blankets rustled and pulled against his shoulder. “Bear?” Iris’ voice was quiet in his ear. She’d turned towards him. He wanted to do the same, but held off.

“Yeah?”

“I’m still cold.”

He twisted his head over his shoulder, catching the briefest glimpse of her bare collarbone beneath the edge of the blankets. It was embarrassing how quickly his body reacted. 

“Can I…?” She began to ask, but she didn’t finish. Instead, she placed a cold palm on his back. It sent a shiver down his spine. 

“Yeah,” he replied breathlessly. He didn’t mean for it to sound so gravelly. 

Somewhere between excitement and panic, Barry lay still as Iris inched towards him, and laid her naked body alongside the back of his. He should have been very hot and bothered by the fact that Iris’ bare breasts were pressed against his shoulder blades or that the round of his bum was nestled against her hips. But instead, he was startled by how cold her body was. 

“Jesus, Iris,” he jumped, turning onto his back. “You’re freezing.”

“I’m sorry,” she replied, her face hanging over his as he lay beneath her. “I told you I was cold.”

“I know, I just… didn’t realize…” he swung an arm around her, pulling her over his chest and rubbing his hands up and down her back over the covers. “Better?”

She nodded her head into his chest. “Getting there,” she murmured as he continued to rub her back. She nuzzled him gently, wrapping an arm around his torso and holding him close while he held her. 

Barry breathed deeply. He was starting to become more aware of the sensation of her skin against his. Her long slender body was pressed against his side, the bulge of her breasts pressing firmly against his ribcage. 

He swallowed and tried to think of anything else other than the fact that Iris’ naked chest was pressed against his. But he couldn’t. The thought was too overwhelming. He shifted his hips away from her slightly. It was wrong for him to get hard. To be turned on by the situation. But he couldn’t help it. This was like every fantasy he’d ever had. 

As he tried to shift away, Iris gently slipped her leg over his, pinning him back in place. Barry was flooded with panic. If she moved the wrong way, all of his deepest darkest secrets would be revealed in the most embarrassing way possible. 

She shivered again. “Bear,” she whispered.

“Yeah?”

“Still cold.”

“K,” was all he could respond as he slipped his arms under the covers and kept rubbing her back, this time against her bare skin. 

She was like velvet under his palms. 

He stroked her softly until she finally started to warm. He was almost getting used to the sensation of her skin on his, could almost control his hard-on. Almost. 

But gosh, Iris was so soft and squishy against him, and the warmer she got the more he just wanted to hold onto her forever.

Luckily, she was content to let him hold her until the temperature of their skin evened out and all was snuggly and hot beneath the blankets. The previous trembling and shivering of Iris’ skin was just a distant memory now, replaced by the toasty, snug comfort of sharing a bed. 

His hands continued to travel slowly back and forth across her back, while he savoured the feel of Iris’ deep, calm breathing against his neck. Her breath was hot, as were her breasts on his chest. It was nice. 

He thought for a brief moment that she must be completely warmed, until she pressed her toes into his calves. 

“ _ Holy _ ,” Barry protested, shifting suddenly at the feel of her icy feet. 

Iris giggled for the first time since the accident. “Sorry,” she said, clearly not sorry. “My toes were cold.”

“Yeah, I feel that,” he asserted, relaxing back into his pillow.

It was as he relaxed that he became aware of two things. The first was that since he’d moved, Iris’ leg was now just about as far across his as it could possibly be. This meant that there was a part of her, a very specific and intimate part of her that was now pressing heatedly against his upper thigh. The second was that since her leg had also shifted there was no way she was still unaware of the fact that his dick was completely rigid. 

He gulped, waiting for her to reprimand him, or to pull away in horror. But for whatever reason, she didn’t. So Barry just savoured the feeling of her skin, hot beneath his touch, warm against his leg, dripping…  _ wait, what? _

Barry’s heart pounded in his chest. 

That warm spot of Iris’ against his leg… the one that was almost certainly her…  _ you know _ … well it was kind of…  _ wet _ . 

_ Oh my God _ , Barry thought in a way that was half wondrous, half panicked. Just the thought of an aroused Iris had been fodder for his wet dreams for  _ years _ .

“Is this okay?” Iris asked, quietly, breathlessly. 

“Yeah,” he replied. “It’s…”  _ more than okay _ , he wanted to say. But his voice got lost somewhere in his throat as Iris rubbed her toes up and down against his calf. She was obviously trying to warm her feet, but as she shifted repeatedly, so too did her thigh shift against his groin.

The feeling wasn’t like anything else Barry could have imagined. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried desperately to wrap his brain around what was happening: He and Iris were naked in bed together, pressed against one another. Her leg was over his and she was so, so warm. And now, with every shift of her foot, she was accidentally grazing softly at the edge of his package. 

He let it go on for far too long, until they were both breathing in heavy, jagged pants, until he was squeezing greedily at her skin and desperately trying to pull her closer as he rubbed her. 

Barry didn’t notice the exact moment when Iris abandoned the guise of rubbing her toes against him. But at some point she stopped, only to continue shifting against him with her hips and thighs. It was only when she started to make these pretty, soft little sounds that he noticed exactly what was happening. 

If Barry wasn’t careful, he was going to come right then and there. 

His best friend, and the girl that he had loved for so many years, was naked and rubbing against him in bed and it was making her  _ moan _ . 

Then, with another soft, but more strangled sound, Iris wrapped her hand under his back and pressed herself as close to him as she possibly could, squeezing and holding their bodies together as her breath hitched in her throat. 

Barry’s mouth dropped open as he tried to suck in air, tried to hang on to the last vestiges of self-control. In his arms, Iris’ body went rigid for a moment. He was mesmerized by how it all felt. 

A trickle of something warm and wet dripped down Barry’s leg.  _ Holy shit _ , he thought to himself, as he squeezed her back.  _ Did Iris just come? _

Unsure of what to do, he just continued to hold her, cupping the back of her head as she lay it down onto his chest, panting into him until her breathing slowed and her grip on him relaxed. 

Iris sighed with contentment.

Compelled by the sound, Barry placed a peck on her forehead without thinking and rubbed the small of her back gently. “Warmer now?” He asked, at a loss for anything else to say.

“Mhmm,” was all she replied. 

“Good,” he told her, holding her close. 

They were quiet for a while. He focused on the syncing beats of their hearts against one another. It seemed like Iris was ready to fall asleep right in his arms. The only problem was, Barry was still hard as a rock. He really needed to do something about it or it was going to hurt later. 

He shifted sideways towards the edge of the bed, whispering, “I’ll be right back,” to a dozing Iris before heading to the washroom. 

Like the rest of the cabin, the washroom was well kept. There was a fresh supply of soaps and even some epsom salts by the bathtub. He checked in the linen cupboard for towels, and was relieved to find a number of clean, fluffy options. There were also two flannel housecoats folded neatly on the bottom shelf. When he spotted them, he couldn’t help but feel sheepish that they hadn’t investigated this cupboard earlier. Perhaps they wouldn’t have needed to strip buck naked and get into bed together.

Then again, some small selfish part of him wouldn’t trade the fact that they had for anything in the world. 

He twisted on the shower faucet, hopped under the warm stream of water and let his muscles relax. He thought about the way Iris had felt in his arms, about the soft sounds she’d made, about the way her body had flexed and tightened against him after doing little else but rubbing against each other. 

He could vaguely imagine how that might have happened. He’d been so turned on in the moment that the gentle brush of her thighs against his length was almost enough to push him over the edge. Even now, as he gripped himself in his hand and tugged, it wasn’t going to take him long. Still, it was wondrous to him that Iris might have been in the same state, that she might have been so turned on,  _ by him (Barry!)  _ no less , that it would have taken very little for her to… 

He was shuddering and spilling, his knees going weak as he leaned against the shower wall. When he’d caught his breath, he reached for a bar of soap and ran it over his skin, trying to clear his head while he cleaned up. 

With the fog of arousal clearing, all he could seem to think was,  _ What just happened? _

He stepped out of the shower, grabbed a fresh towel and dried off. 

Before returning to the main room, he wrapped himself in one of the flannel robes and brought the other for Iris.

She was snuggled almost onto his pillow, her eyes closed and her face relaxed. Perhaps she was asleep. 

He set the robe he’d brought for her on the top of the dresser, and pulled back the corner of the sheets. 

Iris stirred and her lids fluttered open. Their eyes locked, and Barry could feel the blood rushing into his cheeks. 

“Hey,” she said softly. 

“Hi,” he replied, blinking. “I — uh — found some housecoats.”

“Okay,” she acknowledged with a soft smile. 

He moved to get back into the bed, but was interrupted when she said, “You know people don’t usually wear their housecoats to bed.”

He looked at her quizzically. 

Her eyes seemed intent and there was no way he was going to deny her anything. “I guess they don’t,” he admitted.

She nodded ever so slightly, watching him with an intense look in her eye that Barry could only describe as hunger. It made him blush.

He started to pull at the tie at his waist. 

Iris kept her eyes on him, and he on her. 

What if she didn’t like what she saw? He worried momentarily. He was aware that he wasn’t hard anymore. He didn’t really want that to be her first impression of what he had to offer. Shyly, he turned around under the guise of hanging the housecoat on a wall hook. Then, he managed to back into the bed and throw the blankets over him without betraying his modesty.

He lay on his back, sinking down into the plush mattress. The heat was still trapped beneath the blankets. 

When he was settled, he felt the unmistakable touch of Iris’ hand thread across his abdomen, as she wriggled up beside him. “You smell nice,” she said sleepily, laying her head on his chest.

“Thanks,” he said, tracing his finger lightly over her arm.

“Like sandalwood,” she mumbled, just before her breath fell heavy and it became clear that she’d fallen asleep.


	2. Snowed In

The next morning, Barry woke without opening his eyes. There was something warm in his arms. He nuzzled into it. It smelled familiar. It wasn’t just an it. It was a woman. And not just any woman.  _ Iris _ .

His eyes snapped open. Struck by the realization that last night was not just a dream, he stared, mesmerized by the soft slope of her shoulder. They really  _ were  _ in a cabin in the middle of nowhere. Not only that, they were both naked and cuddled against one another.

Perhaps predictably, Barry was hard with morning wood. He nuzzled his nose into Iris’ shoulder and pressed his forehead against her skin, trying to breathe and calm himself. He needed to think about something,  _ anything  _ other than the fact that his hard cock was pressed against the soft, round flesh of Iris’ bum. 

He should have moved away, but he just couldn’t seem to find the will to do so. 

Thankfully, Iris stirred and rolled onto her back, blinking as she woke up. She turned to him with sleepy, orb-like eyes, her long lashes blinking away her slumber.

“Morning,” she whispered, smiling from the corners of her mouth.

“Morning,” he replied, his voice scratchy and unused in his throat. 

Iris threaded an arm across his chest and held him lightly. In his ribcage, Barry’s heart thrummed. He’d always dreamed of waking up next to her. He wanted to savor it, even if it was happening as the result of dire circumstances.

A chill tickled their noses. The fire had long since gone out, leaving only ashes in the stove. She shivered slightly, then pulled the blankets up to her chin.

“Are you warm enough?” He asked her.

She nuzzled down into her pillow. “Might be nice to have another fire,” she suggested, looking up at him with big eyes.

He smirked and rubbed her arm. “All right,” he obliged. There was little in this world he wouldn’t give her if she asked. 

So, despite the frigid air that greeted him, he slipped out of bed, shuddering as his toes hit the icy hardwood floor. He tip-toed over to where his housecoat hung, grabbed it and wrapped it tightly around his body. 

The edge of his foot brushed against something soft beneath the dresser. Startled, he hopped back.  _ Was it a mouse? _ He crouched to find out, relieved when it was not a rodent, but two pairs of fuzzy slippers. One was about his size. The other looked like it would fit Iris. Grateful for the chance to shield his feet from the frozen floor, he slipped the slippers on without a second thought. 

A dim, greyish light was filtering in through the windows. It was a wonder that the light was coming through at all. They were almost completely snowed in. Like, the snow was most of the way up to the top of the windows.

“Holy shit,” Barry swore under his breath.

“What’s wrong?” Iris asked, sitting up in the bed.

“It’s just… the snow,” he stuttered. 

“Oh… wow.”

“Yeah.”

“How are we going to get out of here?”

“We’ll figure something out,” Barry said optimistically. “We can always tunnel out.”

Iris flopped back down into the bed. “It’s too cold to tunnel,” she sulked. 

“Guess I’d better get to work on that fire, then,” he smirked.

He concentrated on the task at hand, swinging open the oven door and building a neat nest of kindling. When it was enveloped in a sweet heat, he put a log on the fire and closed the door. The flames lapped cheerfully at the glass.

Shivering, he returned to the bed, toed off the slippers, shrugged out of the housecoat and slipped under the covers. Beneath the warmth and weight of the blankets, he let loose a sigh and sank into the plush mattress.

Beside him, Iris inched closer, delicately threading a hand across his chest. He turned to look at her, hyper-aware of the way it felt to have her hand on his skin and of the quiet intensity growing between them.

“Thank you,” she said softly.

“You’re welcome,” he replied, caressing her arm.

“You’re cold now,” she observed.

“A little,” he admitted.

“Do you want to… warm up a bit?” She asked, her eyelashes flitting bashfully. 

Barry’s eyes widened at the suggestion. He wasn’t entirely sure what she meant, but  _ man  _ did he ever want to find out. “Okay,” he replied.

To his delight, Iris slotted their bodies against one another, once again threading her leg around his. 

“Can I hold you?” He whispered softly, his heart fluttering with excitement.

“Yeah,” she breathed in reply.

He wrapped his hands around her back, rubbing softly and tenderly at her skin. Below the small of her back, her flesh rounded upwards in an enticing shape. He wanted so much to run his hands just a little lower… 

He tested her reaction, letting his palms wander lower and lower with every pass. To his delight, Iris hummed happily in response to every stroke.  _ She didn’t mind _ . He had his hands on her butt and  _ she didn’t mind _ . Greedily, he reached further, cupping the soft dip where her bum met her thigh and pulled her on top of him. 

The sound Iris made in reply was unlike anything he could have anticipated. It was like opium to his ears. In a flurry of movement and breath, they shifted, seeking out a good position, noses rubbing against each other, Iris’ hands threading up into his hair, her elbows resting on either side of his head, her knees on either side of his hips. She held her weight off of him, but hovered there, tempting and tantalizing.

They panted against one another, nose to nose and lips parted, until finally, their mouths interlocked, sweet and hot and soft. 

A strange, chemical reaction occurred. 

Iris let her weight fall against him. Barry shifted to sit up, one hand threading up into her hair while the other followed up her spine. She rolled her hips in a steady rhythm against him, while he rocked back into her.

The warmth and wetness of her folds parted around the tip of his hardened cock, causing a low sound to emanate from deep in Barry’s throat. It felt amazing. He licked her mouth open, eager to have more of her, overwhelmed by the feel of their tongues against one another. He needed to have as much of it as possible. It wouldn’t have been pretty to watch, but  _ man _ did it ever feel good.

Maybe he was a bit too eager. 

Iris broke from his mouth with a quiet gasp. “Bear?” She asked. 

“Yeah,” he grunted, sucking at her neck as she arched back.

“Wh -- what are we doing?” She breathed. She carded her fingers up through his hair, tugging at the strands.

He dragged the tip of his nose along the underside of her jaw, mouthing sloppy kisses as he went. With his heart pounding and his blood rushing, he drunkenly muttered, “‘M... loving you.”

It took a second for the weight of Barry’s words to fall. When it did, it was heavy. 

Iris’ grasp on him faltered. 

Sensing her hesitation, he released his grip on her.

Her hands tenderly cupped his face and she placed a gentle peck on his face before resting her forehead against his. “Maybe… we should slow down,” she said, her arms hanging around his neck.

“Yeah,” he nodded against her.

She patted his cheek and slid off of him, reclining beside him as they both sought to catch their breath. 

“You okay?” He asked, turning towards her.

“Yeah,” she nodded, pulling at her neck. “Yeah, I’m good.”

“You sure? You seem… tense.”

“My neck’s just stiff,” she explained, rubbing at a knot.

“From the accident?” 

She nodded.

“You sure you didn’t hit your head?” He asked. He was almost afraid of the answer. What if all of this was happening because Iris was concussed? Oh God. He was a terrible person. She was concussed and it had made her uncharacteristically frisky and he’d just let it all happen.

“No,” she said firmly. “I didn’t. But the seatbelt kind of jerked me back when we lost control.”

He nodded, relieved. “I saw some epsom salts in the bathroom,” he told her. “Maybe a hot bath would help?”

She smiled faintly and searched his eyes. “Yeah, that might be good.”

“Do you… want me to draw one for you?” He found himself offering.

“Okay,” she said, studying him with intensity.

He clamored to a stand and headed for the washroom, where he sat naked on the side of the tub and wrenched the faucet on. He watched the water slowly fill the basin. Behind him, he heard the quiet sound of Iris’ feet approaching.

She looked incredibly gorgeous, her hair a little askew and the robe he’d put out for her falling off of one of her shoulders. He was utterly distracted by her until the water turned hot enough to scald his hand. He yanked it away from the water, adjusted the temperature, then poured in the salts, swishing the water around until it was a comfortable temperature. 

“You’re good to me, Bear,” Iris said softly. “Always have been.”

He turned to her and smiled. There was something sublimely domestic about the whole scene. Barry wished it could last forever. 

“Do you want to come in, too?” She asked.

Barry blinked. “Are you sure?” He asked, standing beside her.

Iris shrugged and smiled from the corners of her mouth. “Might be nice.” 

Any second now, Barry’s heart was going to bust out of his chest from beating so hard. 

He watched, mesmerized as Iris pulled at the belt of her robe and let it drop to the floor. 

His breath hitched in his throat. He wanted to say something, to tell her how beautiful she was, or how long he’d waited for this. But all he could seem to do was stand there stupidly and take her in, in all of her perfection. 

Was she sure she hadn’t hit her head?

She tugged on his hand, indicating that he should get in first. He obliged, giving his feet a moment to adjust to the heat before he sank down into the water. He sat at the back of the tub and offered his hand to her while she climbed in. 

The tepid water was soothing against their skin. Iris sighed as she sat between his legs and relaxed back against his chest. He shifted as she leaned back, adjusting his hardened length (which was momentarily caught in an awkward place).

“You okay?” She asked, closing her eyes as she settled against him.

“Yeah,” he replied with a gentle laugh. “Sorry. Can’t help it.”

“I know,” Iris smirked. 

“You do?” Barry breathed nervously. Oh God how long had she known for?

“Yeah, I mean… a naked girl is a naked girl, right? Even if she is your best friend.”

Barry’s stomach dropped. Was she serious? They’d just been making out in bed. If they hadn’t stopped, they might have even ended up having sex. Clearly she wasn’t reading too much into it. At least, not as much as he was.

He wished he could be honest with her, but all he could seem to do was mindlessly trace a hand up and down her arm. He stared down longingly at her beautiful body, at the slope of her sinewy neck and the way it tilted just below his chin. If he lowered his head just an inch he could kiss her. 

“I’m kinda surprised we haven’t seen each other naked before now, actually,” Iris said suddenly, breaking the silence.

“What?” Barry laughed in disbelief, wrapping his arms around her stomach and holding her.

“Yeah… I mean… aren’t you kinda surprised we never did the ‘I’ll show you mine if you show me yours’ thing when we were younger?”

“Um… no, because your father would have murdered me.”

Iris giggled. “I guess you’re right.”

“I was lucky enough he took me in, I wasn’t going to jeopardize that,” Barry said, voicing one of the real, sad truths about why he’d never made a move.

Iris frowned. “But didn’t you ever think about it?”

Barry squeezed her gently. “Of course,” he whispered in her ear. “...Did you?”

Iris placed her hands over his. “Sure.”

Barry’s dick throbbed.  _ Sure? _ What did that mean? Was it a passing thought? Pure curiosity? Or was it something more? 

“You never said,” he stated.

Iris shook her head slowly, softly rolling it against Barry’s collarbone.

He nuzzled his nose against her ear and squeezed her around the middle. 

“Can I ask you something?” She voiced, splashing the water with her toes.

Barry’s heart was still pounding against her shoulder blades. “Anything,” he answered.

“How did it happen? With you and Erica?”

Barry’s grip on her slackened, and a hot wave of guilt washed over him. “Oh,” he breathed. “Um… I dunno… we were just at this party and she caught me staring at her, I guess.”

Iris laughed. “Smooth, Allen.”

Barry chuckled nervously. “Yeah. Not my finest moment.”

“But she was happy you were staring at her?” Iris asked, still swishing her feet in the water.

“Actually, she came over to ask me if I had a problem or something.”

Iris laughed again. “What did you say?”

“I kind of… bumbled an apology and said that I just thought she was really pretty,” he answered.

“Bet that softened her up,” Iris giggled as she pressing her toes into the end of the tub.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Barry admitted. 

“Then what happened?” Iris asked, a hard tone seeping into her voice.

He shrugged. “I dunno… one thing just kind of led to another.”

Iris pulled her feet up and turned her head over her shoulder. “So, why’d you end it?”

Barry fidgeted with her hands in his, suddenly feeling very exposed. He closed his eyes and breathed. “I wasn’t being fair to her,” he admitted.

“In what way?” Iris asked softly, letting him thread their fingers together in a gentle clasp.

“I have feelings for someone else,” he answered, praying that she would know exactly what he meant.

She leaned her head to the right, her ear pressing warmly against his bicep. “Do they know?” He heard her mumble.

“I don’t think so,” he whispered. 

“Why haven’t you told them?”

Barry swallowed. There were a million ways he could have answered. He could have lied. He could have said something opaque. What he did say was, “I didn’t want to lose you.”

A heavy silence followed, broken only by the steady drip of the faucet into the bathwater.

Barry was quietly freaking out. What was Iris thinking? Had she thought he was talking about someone else? What if she hated him now? 

He knew he should have told her a long time ago. He just… couldn’t. He ruminated himself into a dizzying spiral until finally, Iris spoke. 

“When I picked you up yesterday,” she began, “And I saw you for the first time in months… I felt like... I couldn’t breathe.”

Barry smiled into her neck. She made him feel like that all the time. 

“I’ve been thinking about you all fall,” she continued. “At first, I thought it was just because we were apart, and I missed you. But… then I realized… I didn’t want to stop thinking about you.”

Barry’s heart wrenched. He pressed his nose down into the crook of her neck and squeezed her around the middle. “I never stopped thinking about you,” he said, hoping beyond hope that it was the right thing to say.

The edges of her mouth flitted up into a smile. 

“And when we found this place last night… and then this morning…” Her neck twisted as she looked over at him. “It just felt right, you know?”

He looked down at her and nodded. “Yeah,” he said. “I do.”

She squeezed his hands against her stomach. 

Then, Barry did what he’d been aching to do since they’d got into the tub: he pressed his lips against the skin of her neck. Gosh her neck was so pretty. She was so pretty. He found himself telling her so. 

She turned her head towards him, smiled, then reached a hand up around his neck and said, “Thanks, Bear. So are you.” 

A flutter of something erupted in his chest at the compliment and he couldn’t hold back any longer. He dipped his head and kissed her neck again. It was just a soft, butterfly of a kiss. But when she gave a happy hum in response, he couldn’t help but do it again. And again, and again. Slowly, softly, he made his way up her neck to the tender spot just beneath her ear.

She caressed his arms with each kiss and laced their fingers together. 

“Iris?” He murmured into her ear, before gently tugging her earlobe between his lips. 

“Yeah?” 

“Tell me to stop,” he breathed, grazing his palms across her stomach. He wanted to touch her, hold her breasts, tease her clit. He needed her to tell him to slow down again, to not get ahead of himself.

She shook her head gently. “No…”

“No, stop? Or…?”

Iris reached her hands onto either side of the tub and pressed herself out of the bath. 

Barry watched, happy to commit the vision of the water running off of her into his memory forever. 

“Water’s getting cold,” she said over her shoulder. “We should get out.”

He nodded while she climbed out and onto the bathmat. Reluctantly, he pulled the stopper and let the water drain out around him, trying to shake off the slightly delirious thought that he desperately wanted to save a jar of it as a souvenir. 

Iris reached into the linen cupboard for a fresh towel. When she did, a small box scattered onto the floor. Curious, she knelt to pick it up. 

Barry looked up when he heard her giggle. 

“What is it?” He asked, standing to reach for his own towel. 

She turned the box in her hand towards him. 

Barry felt his face go red. “Where did those come from?” He asked.

“They were just in there,” she giggled, setting the box of condoms down on the counter. 

“That’s… weird,” he said, stunned and embarrassed. 

“Or fortunate,” Iris smirked coyly.

Barry felt his mouth drop open. “Are you serious?”

She shrugged. “Why not?”

He fixed his towel around his waist. “You think we should…?”

“Do you not want to?” 

“No!” Barry exclaimed, inching towards her and waving his hands. “No! I do. I just don’t want to rush you.”

“You’re not rushing me, Bear,” she cooed, wrapping a hand around his neck and pulling him down for a kiss. “There’s no one in this world I feel safer with than you.”

Barry closed his eyes and savored the touch of her nose against his. “That means everything to me, Iris.”

She nodded, then pulled at his hand. “Well… come on, then.”

Barry could hardly believe his luck as he followed her back to the bed. “Am I dreaming?” He muttered aloud. 

Iris laughed. “No, you’re not dreaming.”

“Good,” he sighed. “Cause I don’t think I could bear waking up from this.” He backed towards the bed, pulling on her hands gently as she followed him. 


	3. Was it real?

Standing at the edge of the bed, Barry held Iris tentatively by the hips.

“You’re sure?” He wanted to double check. 

“I’m sure,” Iris told him.

He nodded, then stepped forward and pressed his mouth to hers with the heat of years of yearning. It felt like a dream, holding her and kissing her. He tried to wrap his brain around it, to be as present in the moment as possible. He wanted to savor it, to make it last. 

His hands itched impatiently and he had to pull the towel from her body. Iris murmured a quiet chuckle, then reached down to return the favor. His towel fell similarly in a heap at their toes. 

“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered, taking in the sight of her bare skin for a moment before he pulled her hips flush against him. He parted her lips with his, and touched their tongues together, swallowing the sweet taste of her.

“You’re a good kisser,” Iris murmured against his lips.

He smiled. “Not so bad yourself,” he replied. 

He parted from her for the briefest of moments, just so that he could throw the covers back and climb into bed. Iris followed after him, climbing on top of his hips while she clutched the box of condoms in her hand. 

“Okay?” She asked.

He nodded through a pant, watching mesmerized as she unpackaged a condom and steadied it at his tip. He writhed and gasped in pleasure as she rolled it down onto his shaft. “I  _ so  _ don’t want to know where you learned to do that,” he breathed. 

“I paid attention in health class,” Iris laughed. 

He chuckled and propped himself up on his elbows to kiss her. It started out urgent, but softened quickly. Something was welling up inside of Barry. It was now or never. He had to say it.

“Iris?” He asked quietly into the still air of the cabin.

“Yeah?” She breathed back. 

“I love you.” The confession launched out of his vocal box as soon as his mouth opened. He closed his eyes, waiting for her to respond. It felt like it hung there for an eternity, like time had slowed. 

But then, Iris shifted and he heard her say, “I love you, too.”

Barry wondered if this was what it felt like to die of happiness. He’d been pining over her for his whole life. If only he’d known he had the slightest chance, he wouldn’t have waited so long. 

A fresh surge of blood rushed into the tip of his cock.

She lifted her hips and steadied him in her palm.

“Ready?” She asked him.

He was so ready. He’d been ready for years. He nodded fervently, biting at his lip as she positioned him at her entrance and slowly, slowly sank down over him.

He gasped a little at the sensation. She was so tight and hot around him. It was amazing. 

She leaned forward, panting into his ear as she wrapped her arms around his head, kissing him softly, holding him close.

They barely needed to move for it to feel good. They held each other, slow and intense, revelling in the feeling of being connected. 

Barry gripped at her hips, gently pulling her into him, following her as she developed a languid rhythm. 

“Iris…” he whispered into her ear, tilting his hips, pressing deeper into her. 

She was panting slightly, making soft, tiny sounds. “Why have we never done this before?” He heard her ask. 

He couldn’t seem to find an answer for her, but delighted in the idea that she was enjoying it. He sucked gently at the warm, supple skin of her neck, drawing soft moans from her. The sound was intoxicating. He drew his nose up her jaw and sucked sloppily at her throat, rocking his hips a little more still, tilting her forward and over him.

“ _ Barry _ ,” she breathed faintly.

Gosh he loved the sound of his name on her tongue like that.

He wrapped his arms around her back and held her close, rocking her gently, revelling in her warmth, feeling totalled by the heat of her around his length. 

“Love you,” he whispered, pulling at her hips a little faster as he began to edge. It wasn’t going to take much. Just the feel of her in his arms and around his cock was enough. He could do this forever. He would be so happy if they could be like this always, tangled up together for eternity. “Love you so much,” he repeated, over and over again in a trance-like chant as their pace quickened.

Her body stiffened over him, her fingers threaded up in his hair and pulling as she cried out, shaking and shivering in delight. 

He chased her pleasure, wanting to draw it out, to make it last as he neared his own climax, kissing her cheeks, her plush lips, letting his tongue fall against hers and drinking her up as he rocked quickly into her.

With a deep-throated grunt, he toppled over the edge, hot streams coursing through him in pulsating beats. His heart pounded rhythmically in his chest, sweat beading on his forehead. He sighed in repetition, until his muscles relaxed and he could catch his breath again. 

Above him, Iris stilled. She traced a finger down his neck, sighing softly and humming in quiet contentment.

They were reluctant to separate, still holding onto each other for warmth and comfort and affection. “Love you, too,” she whispered, resting her cheek against his chest. 

“I’ve wanted to do that… for a very long time,” he admitted, feeling uncharacteristically forthcoming in the afterglow. 

Iris nodded, shifting off of him so that they could get rid of the condom. 

After Barry had cleaned up, he slid back under the covers and spooned his body alongside hers. He kissed the top of her shoulder. “Can I tell you something?” He asked.

She turned her head towards him and said, “Anything.”

He breathed deeply. The last of his confessions was on the tip of his tongue. “I want to be with you, Iris,” he said.

She looked at him, unwavering, breaking only to blink. 

“I want it to be like this,” he continued. “Always.”

She threaded her fingers in between his and squeezed. “Me too.”

He felt his face crack into a wide grin. “Really?”

“Yeah,” she smiled. “I want to be with you, too.”

He couldn’t have stopped smiling if he tried. 

They drifted in and out of a hazy sleep, waking only to cuddle each other before falling unconscious again. 

Barry’s stomach woke them later with a loud growl. 

Iris laughed as she rolled over to face him. “Hungry?” She asked.

“I guess so,” he chuckled back, putting a hand to his stomach. “You think there’s any food in this place?”

“Only one way to find out,” she replied. 

He nodded, rolling out of bed and donning the housecoat before he walked to the kitchen cupboards.

Iris followed behind him, sauntering towards the fridge. “I could really go for some waffles right now,” she said, pulling the door open.

Strangely, the fridge contained only a jar of maple syrup.

Iris blinked at it, then looked over at Barry who shrugged.

When she opened up the freezer, her face split into a grin to find it packed with boxes of frozen waffles. “There’s like a month’s supply of Eggos in here,” she laughed, pulling some out. “What are the chances?”

Barry grinned. “Guess you’re in luck,” he replied, opening another cupboard to find a four-slot toaster. He took it from the shelf and plugged it in before gingerly placing four waffles into the life-saving appliance. 

They watched in silence as the elements inside the toaster turned from pale silver to a hot orange. Barry was lost inside his own head, cataloguing every moment of the last few hours. 

“You okay?” Iris asked him, slipping her hand into his.

“Yeah,” he smiled, leaning over to peck her on the forehead. “I’ve never been better.”

She nodded thoughtfully, looped her arm through his elbow and waited patiently for the Eggos to pop.

“Maybe after we could…” he began. “You know. Again.”

Iris grinned up at him mischievously. “Yeah, okay. That’d be nice.” 

The toaster popped with a tinny clang and they both jumped back. 

Iris laughed quietly, grabbed a couple of plates from the cupboard and set two waffles on each. The kitchen was surprisingly easy to navigate. It was like they’d cooked here a million times before. Then again, it wasn’t very big. It wouldn’t have taken a genius to figure it out. Still, somehow everything they needed was exactly where they expected it to be. 

They ate in silence, having pulled two of the kitchen chairs back around the table. On and off Barry stared at the dancing flames in the woodstove. 

“What’s up?” Iris asked him curiously.

He smiled shyly. “I was just thinking that I never would have guessed this would have been how Christmas vacation would have started,” he admitted.

“Yeah,” she laughed. “Me neither.”

“It’s good though, right?”

“Really good,” Iris agreed, taking the last bite of her waffles.

He couldn’t help but watch her mouth as she licked the last bit of syrup from her fork. It was strangely tantalizing. “What?” She asked, noticing his gaze.

Barry shook his head. “Nothing, I just…” he pulled on her hands and led her back over to the bed. “Wanted to do this.” He untied her robe and slid it from her shoulders. 

He was already hard again. He shed his own robe and wrapped his arms around her, grasping at her, letting their bodies shift against one another as they kissed each other heatedly.

She placed her palms against his chest, kissing him when she could manage it, between urgent breaths.

“Iris…” he moaned, tilting her back towards the bed. 

“Barry,” she replied.

“Want you again,” he rasped. 

She nodded. “Yeah.”

It was dark by the time they came back to the world. After a shower, Iris went to the window and gasped at what she saw. “Barry,” she said in an astonished voice. “The snow is gone.”

“What?”

It sounded impossible, but sure enough, when he went to look for himself, the snow had disappeared. 

They looked at each other and at the same moment exclaimed, “The car!”

They scrambled for their clothes, long dried by the fire and dressed in a hurry. Barry put out the fire, while Iris pulled the sheets from the bed. They found a pen and paper in a kitchen drawer and hastily wrote a note, thanking the owner of the cabin for their unwitting generosity. 

Then, they rushed out of the cabin and back to the road where the car was parked perfectly parallel to the road. “What the…?” Barry panted as they reached the vehicle.

“How did…?” Iris wondered aloud, looking at Barry for some kind of explanation.

He shook his head, mystified. “I have no idea.”

Hesitantly, they climbed into the car. 

Iris turned the key in the ignition. It started normally. On the radio, Wham!’s  _ Last Christmas _ blared to life. 

They looked at each other. 

“Weird,” Barry muttered.

“So weird,” Iris agreed. She looked out at the road. There were no cars in sight. There were a few flurries falling from the sky, but other than that the driving conditions were good. “Guess we might as well be on our way.”

“Guess so,” Barry agreed. 

As they pulled out and onto the highway, Barry started out the passenger window to say a silent goodbye to their perfect little cabin. 

The only thing was: the driveway had disappeared. 

There was no cabin to be seen.

Getting home was surreal. Joe wrapped them in hugs and exclaimed they’d made good time. Neither of them could quite believe what had happened. It was as if they’d gone back in time and the night they’d spent in the cabin had never happened. Except, they both remembered it clearly.

“I’m not crazy, right?” Iris asked Barry as they headed up to bed. 

“No,” he shook his head. “I definitely remember finding the cabin, being together.”

“Yeah. It was real, wasn’t it?”

“So real,” Barry assured her. “This is real.” He motioned between them. “Being together was real.”

Iris nodded. “I’m glad it was.”

Barry smiled. “Me too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading this silly fic! 
> 
> Turns out my creative juices don't flow very well during a pandemic. I hope you are all keeping well. Stay safe and healthy.


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